You’ll look up at your Mom. She’s seated on a branch. She looks patient, maybe a little distracted.

“What else is there?”

The fireman will explain that when a cat gets stuck in a tree, it’s typical because cats are stupid and they do stupid stuff like that. But when a human does it, they oughta know better. A human stuck up in a tree is usually the sign that something way deeper is going on here.

“Like what?” you’ll ask.

“Like she married the wrong man. She should’a married the first guy she fell for, but her parents disapproved because he didn’t come from a rich wealthy family.”

You’ll see what’s going on here now. “Did the first guy she fell for come from a family of firemen?”

“I would’a let the whole world burn for her,” the fireman will say. “But I ain’t gonna help her outta that tree. She can’t just decide all these years later to do something to make me rescue her. She has to find her way back down those branches herself.”

Put your hand on the fireman’s shoulder. You’ll enjoy touching him there. He could’ve been your dad, had your Mom not been so willing to let her own happiness slip away.